Our Team

  • Joshua (Ale) DeSilva, PsyD, CGP, AGPA-F, TCSP President and Founder

    Dr. Ale DeSilva (they/them) is a queer Latinx licensed Clinical Psychologist (Commonwealth of Virginia and District of Columbia), a Certified Group Psychotherapist (CGP), a Fellow of the American Group Psychotherapy Association, and a Certified Consultant of the A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems.

    Dr. DeSilva enjoys leading leadership development conferences from a psychodynamic perspective and has served in every group relations conference role. They have directed two conferences—one on Latino/x/e? identities and the other on Queering Leadership and Exploring Gender Expansiveness in Organizational Life. They enjoy large groups and the organizational event (OE) most of all and are absolutely taken with the use of group relations technologies to affect social change. Dr. DeSilva’s next conference in Spring 2026, sponsored by Grex, will explore the theme, Large Groups for Social Change? Exploring Novel Applications of Large Group Work. Other group therapy and group relations credits include leading the large group at the American Group Psychotherapy Association for over 200 attendees two years in a row, and recently leading a director development workshop on gender expansive leadership for the AK Rice Institute. Conference directors under whom Ale has served as staff include: mak wemuk, Danielle Kennedy, Patrick Jean-Pierre, Yaro Fong-Olivares, and Jaime Romo. They serve as Secretary on the Board of Directors of the A. K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems and currently hold the Affiliate Representative seat on the AKRI Board for WBC. Dr. DeSilva teaches full time as Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the George Washington University Doctor of Psychology program. There they teach the Group Psychotherapy, Diversity I, and Community Intervetion courses. Additionally, they design their own elective doctoral course titled Somatic and Experiential Approaches to Psychotherapy which covers AEDP, IFS, ISTDP, and Somatic Experiencing, among other techniques.

    In terms of service and contributions to the larger profession of psychology nationally and internationally, they were recently elected by their colleagues in APA Division 49 (Group Psychology) to the American Psychological Association Council of Representatives for a term beginning January 1, 2026. They were also elected to serve as Member at Large on the APA Division 44 (LGBTQIA+ Psychology) Board of Directors. Their demonstration video, “Basics of Group Therapy” was published in the APA Video Series in June 2024.

    Dr. DeSilva has applied group relations and systems psychodynamic work in consultation projects with organizations including the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR), the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General (DC OAG), GWU Hospital Department of Oncology, the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [in the BMGF engagement, Dr. DeSilva was a member of a consulting team with Therapist Beyond Borders (Kavita Avula, PsyD, CGP, AGPA-F, President)].

  • Amber (Williams) PaloSanto, MA

    Amber is the Director of Stouffer College House & a Pre-Major Advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Amber’s group relations experience spans nine years, beginning during graduate school at the University of San Diego School of Leadership and Educational Sciences under the tutelage of Teri Monroe, Zachary Green, Rene Molenkamp, Michael Lindsay and more. Amber has held all major conference roles other than Conference Director and Conference Associate Director (which they will take on for GREX’ spring 2026 conference). Amber has served on staff for the following conference directors: Diane Forbes-Berthoud, Teri Monroe, mak wemuk, Patrick Jean-Pierre, Tyrome Smith, Evangeline Sarda, and most recently, Joshua “Ale” DeSilva. Other roles and certifications Amber holds include: Board of Directors & Conference Committee Co-Chair, Difficult Dialogues National Resource Center; Co-creator and former Podcast Co-host, Group Relations International; Member, Finance Committee & Former Board of Directors, AK Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems; Member and Wells School Steering Committee Member, Washington-Baltimore Center; Restorative Practices Circle and Conference Facilitator; Intergroup Dialogue Trained Facilitator.

  • Kathleen Isaac Campbell, PhD, CGP

    Dr. Kathleen Isaac Campbell, PhD, CGP is a Haitian-American, cis-gender female, licensed Clinical Psychologist and Certified Group Therapist. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at NYU Langone Health, where she directs Medical Student and House Staff Mental Health Services, which provides individual, couples and group psychotherapy to medical students, residents and fellows. She also has a part-time private practice, HEAL’D Therapy & Consulting, focused on serving BIPOC and LGBTQ+ clients with integrative treatment approaches, specializing in trauma, health psychology, and cultural issues. Her practice also offers consultation and training to organizations to increase racial literacy and promote racial dialogue. Dr. Isaac is an adjunct lecturer in the City College of New York’s doctoral program in clinical psychology and is on the faculty of the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society’s training program in Group Psychotherapy and Group Dynamics. Dr. Isaac has been featured on multiple media platforms, including Essence Magazine, NBC and the New York Times discussing the importance of mental health in communities of color, demonstrating her commitment to promoting the use of mental health treatment and reducing mental health stigma.  

    Dr. Isaac has presented plenary sessions focused on exploring identity and creating inclusive group spaces. She has also co-led Large Groups at the Annual AGPA Connect Meetings in 2023 (NYC) and 2024 (DC) with Dr. DeSilva, Ms. Casteneda and Dr. Darby and has served a Large Group Consultant with Therapist Beyond Borders, led by Dr. Kavita Avula. 

  • Diana Castañeda, MA, LCPC

    Diana is a Certified Consultant of the A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems (AKRI). She began her work on staff of Group Relations Conferences (GRC) in the Tavistock Tradition in 2012 at Northwestern University and has served as a staff member of a conference every year since. As a result, Diana has held every major role in a GRC and has worked with most affiliate centers of AKRI. She has been privileged to work for and with the following directors: Dr. Solomon Cytrynbaum, Dr. Thomas Golebiewski, Dr. Vicki Seglin, Dr. Kat Harding, Dr. Jaime Romo, mak wemuk, Dr. Patrick Jean-Pierre, Dr. Yaro Fong-Olivares, Dr.  Flora Taylor, Dr. Candice A. Crawford-Zakian, Dr.  René Molenkamp, and Barney Straus. Diana also co-directed a conference with TCSP founder Joshua “Ale” DeSilva. Upcoming conference participation includes being on staff for the first GRC in Ensenada, Mexico in summer 2025, being on staff for the fall WBC conference, and being on Dr. DeSilva’s Spring 2026 conference staff. Diana is a licensed psychotherapist in Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio, specializing in trauma, including racial and systemic trauma, and spent over a decade in the community mental health field serving low-income families on the west side of Chicago. Diana is a member of The Washington- Baltimore Center for the Study of Group Relations (WBC) and a clinical consultant for the fellowship program at the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. She has also been a large group consultant for the American Group Psychotherapy Association’s yearly conference for the past three years.

  • Jackie Darby, PsyD, CGP

    Dr. Jackie Darby is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Certified Group Psychotherapist. Her clinical interests include substance dependency issues, cultural concerns, and the effects of systemic oppression on individuals. In addition to providing individual and group therapy, Dr. Darby currently serves on the American Group Psychotherapy Association's Board of Directors and on the Board of Branches Counseling Center. Prior Board appointments include the Mid-Atlantic Group Psychotherapy Association and the American Group Psychotherapy Foundation Board. Dr. Darby received her Psy.D. from the American School of Professional Psychology. In 2020, she became a contributing editor of the textbook "Black Millennials: Identity, Ambition, and Activism" and in 2023 she became the author of “A Year of Self-Care: a Self-Care Planner.” Lastly, she is the owner of a wellness consulting firm called “The Unconscious Shift” where she conducts workshops on mental wellness for community organizations. Dr. Darby has been featured on a variety of podcasts and has provided her expertise to numerous publications.  Dr. Darby believes in the power of building a community of wellness and encourages individuals to speak from their truth and not from their pain.